PITTSBURGH -- It's not often that Tom Brady can't discern an opponent's game plan, dice it up in front of them and send it back with a side of hopelessness.

Sunday in Pittsburgh was a rare exception. Asked twice what the Steelers had done to constrict and confound his offense in a 17-10 defeat, Brady replied twice in his post-game press conference with a verbal shrug; first in response to a question about their overall plan, then how they'd held Rob Gronkowski to just two catches for 21 yards.

"That's a good question. I'll have to look at it," he said.

"I'm not sure. I think they were conscious of where (Gronkowski) was. They had doubles on him, some doubles they had on Julian Edelman."

A few paces down the tunnel underneath Heinz Field and around a couple corners, the Steelers, celebrating their first triumph over New England since 2011 in a packed locker room, were happy to tell you. They all offered a variations of the same answer. The twist depended on their position.

If they played linebacker or defensive back, they'd mention disguise or tight coverage. Defensive linemen defaulted to comments about pressure or being physical. All agreed, however, it came down to halting one player; the one who'd tortured them for an average of 110 receiving yards in six prior meetings.

"We took Gronk out the game," cornerback Mike Hilton said.

Fellow corner Joe Haden, who in the fourth quarter became the second player to intercept Tom Brady since mid-October, explained it was a coordinated effort. Everybody find Gronk, then hit him, sometimes double him or, better yet, both.

"We had a lot of eyes on him. We had a lot of guys just looking at him, trying to get hands on him, trying to disrupt him at the line," Haden said. "People just getting on him and making sure we had a couple people and all eyes on him."

Physicality was the missing piece of Miami's game plan last week, which helped birth Gronkowski's first 100-yard game since Week 1. Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt grasped what the Dolphins failed to understand about defending Gronkowski this season; the balancing act of knowing he's a diminished version of the untamable tight end who used to careen through secondaries and recognizing he's still a legitimate threat.

"Gronk a lot of times trips and gets out late," Watt said. "So he can't be a target if you get to him early because he's getting out later. He was staying in a good amount and blocking. He's a good overall player. We just had him on lock today."

On lock until the fourth quarter, when the Brady at last connected with Gronkowski over the middle on a play-action pass. Play-action served Brady like night-vision goggles in Pittsburgh, as he sifted through the shroud of disguises thrown at him. He went 7-for-7 for 140 yards and a touchdown on passes preceded by a play fake.

Otherwise, Brady, like Gronkowski, struggled.

Amid their usual zone defenses, the Steelers also introduced new wrinkles against the Patriots. They slipped in and out coverages unseen on their recent film. Pre-snap alignments that featured one deep safety suddenly gave Brady double vision when another would drop back at the hike of the ball, sometimes shadowing Gronkowski.

All the while, Pittsburgh tilted its zones toward Gronk, whom they kept within an arm's reach seemingly at all times. By the time Brady targeted him on the two plays that preceded his game-ending incompletion, blanketing No. 87 had become old hat for the Steelers.

Plus, they knew those throws were coming. No wonder they both fell incomplete.

"I think we knew, I think you guys knew, I think everybody in the stadium knew because Gronk is Gronk," safety Terrell Edmunds told reporters. "Gronk is a playmaker, Gronk is an All-Pro, Gronk is an all-star. So you know they're going to throw it to their playmakers."

And then Brady's last pass, a hopeless lob down the seam for 5-foot-9 Julian Edelman against triple coverage, dropped to the turf, too, uncorking a unique jubilance not known in Pittsburgh in seven years. For the first time since 2011, the Steelers had toppled New England. On the last play, Brady didn't even glance Gronk's way.

The moment punctuated an impressive red-zone shutout for Pittsburgh's defense, which Bill Belchick credited as the difference in the game. More importantly, it married the two objectives that laid to rest past Steeler demons and breathed life into their once deadening playoff hopes.